


slow life

by starskies



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: High School AU, M/M, oneshots
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-01
Updated: 2019-03-01
Packaged: 2019-11-07 15:32:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17963228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starskies/pseuds/starskies
Summary: the thing about being love with your best friend is that it's easy just as often as it is hard, but you can never tell which one it’s going to be.





	slow life

the thing about being love with your best friend is that it's easy just as often as it is hard, but you can never tell which one it’s going to be.

donghyuck showed up around early morning, knocked on the door incessantly for about a minute and a half before mark came and opened it, wearing pajama bottoms and an annoyed expression. he scrutinized donghyuck for a moment, bouncing up and down on his heels with an innocent grin, before sighing and letting him in.

as they made their way upstairs, mark told him that his parents weren't home, that he'd been planning to sleep in because of that fact, but donghyuck already knew this, of course. that's why he came.

it's only two days before the new year, so mark's parents have travelled north like they always do, going to celebrate the holiday with some of their close friends. mark has been left home, like he is every year, like donghyuck knew he would be. so here he is, because if mark thinks that he's going to get a break from being woken by his mom turning on the coffee machine early in the morning, when donghyuck is still a slave to his alarm of screaming younger siblings at ungodly hours—well, it just wouldn't really be fair, would it?

so now it's stretching into late afternoon and they're both settled in mark's bed, covers thrown haphazardly on the floor. donghyuck's gamecube controller dangles from his hand over the edge of the bed while bowser celebrates his victory on the screen.

mark huffs a sigh, falling backwards against one of the pillows he pushed up against the wall. "can we go back to mario kart? i can at least win half the time when we play that."

"it's not my fault you suck at fighting games. you keep picking such lightweight characters, it's just so _easy_ to kill them with bowser—"

"well maybe if you _stopped_ picking bowser every single time—"

"he's my favorite character, what do you expect me to do—"

"you can't call him your favorite when you've never even tried anyone else!"

donghyuck shrugs, kicking his feet up and down against the sheets. they're dark blue, covered in little white stars, and mark's had them since he was little. donghyuck remembers one time when he slept over, and mark cried because his sheets were in the wash and his mom had put plain white ones on his bed instead.

"do you have any food?" he asks, but doesn't look up from where he's tracing a constellation with his fingertips.

"i think we might have some frozen pizzas in the freezer," mark says. he sits up, and donghyuck's world shifts for a moment, everything dipping toward mark as he stands on the mattress before hopping down.

"sounds good," he says, and picks himself up to follow him.

 

sometimes it's easy, sometimes it's hard. mark putting his hand over donghyuck's on the controller, trying to drive his character off the track; mark leaning against the countertop by the oven, digging his fingers into donghyuck's ribs when donghyuck complains that the pizzas are taking too long; mark slipping out of his pajama pants and his oversized sleep shirt, and into a pair of jeans and a fresh t-shirt while donghyuck is right there, lying on the bed. that's all easy, that's twelve years of friendship, and donghyuck can do that, can do it with his eyes closed, but _this—_

he never knows when it's gonna get hard, doesn't know what to do when it does. and right now mark isn't even looking at him, isn't even doing anything particularly remarkable. he mumbles something about donghyuck leaving his coat lying on the floor, nudging it forward with his foot. then he's rubbing the back of a hand over his mouth, and donghyuck is caught.

he watches mark’s tongue dart out, watches him lick his lips, leave the bottom one slick and shiny, then his throat, the way it moves as he swallows, adam’s apple going down, up, skin pulled smooth over the tendons in his neck, and the freckle there, a dark one on the left side just beyond his jaw, matching the one there on his face, below the line of his cheekbone, and.

mark is watching him right back, but his eyes are a little wide and his lips are parted and oh, oh, oh, it’s just written all over donghyuck’s face, isn’t it? mark is standing there looking like he was made to be watched, so donghyuck obeys, he does, he watches him, but mark is colored shocked, like he doesn’t even know what he is.

donghyuck would tell him, certainly, baby, hasn’t anyone ever told you what you look like? how could they not? how could you get away with looking like that? donghyuck wants to tell him, but mark is still staring at him and he finds that words won’t come out.

he turns, away away away, nothing to see here, no, just a boy who never learned how to keep his eyes to himself, apparently, and maybe mark knows, maybe he really could read donghyuck that easy, but it’s not real if they don’t say anything. doesn’t have to be real if he doesn’t say it.

it’s hot inside, so donghyuck grabs his jacket from where it’s still lying on the floor, but doesn’t pull it on. his skin is tingling, his cheeks are warm, and he clenches his hands into fists, tries to get his fingers to stop shaking. he pushes open the door, steps outside. the winter air is cool and forgiving on his face, and his brain belatedly registers mark calling out behind him, telling him to put his coat on. he ignores him, sucking frigid air in through his teeth, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment. three, two—okay, three, two, one—

he opens his eyes, and throws a grin over his shoulder, “who needs a coat? surely not me, i’m too hot for that, mark lee, didn’t you know?”

mark is standing in the doorway, socked feet curved over the threshold, a bewildered look on his face.

“hyuck, it’s supposed to snow soon, you’re gonna catch a cold!”

but no, no colds for lee donghyuck, he’s already caught something much worse and he’s got no room left in his body for any other viruses. he’s sure of that.

**Author's Note:**

> i hope u enjoy my run-on sentences and inability to write anything longer than like a thousand words. thank u for reading <3


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